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Storyline

A Polish rabbi wanders through the Old West on his way to lead a synagogue in San Francisco. On the way he is nearly burnt at the stake by Indians and almost killed by outlaws. Written by
Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

Did You Know?

Trivia

Goofs

In the first scene where Avram is thrown from the wagon and proceeds to pick up his belongings thrown out earlier, after picking up everything he finally gets to his suitcase and exclaims, "This, you couldn't throw out first?!". In fact, the suitcase was thrown out first - that's why he got to it last as he backtracked. See more »

Quotes

[Avram creeps up to the home of Mr. Bender, where Avram's intended fiancee lives, to leave the Torah at the door and sneak away. The younger daughter, Rosalie, unexpectedly opens the door]
Avram:
Oy!
[She exclaims in surprise as he tumbles to her feet, then scrambles to stand up]
Avram:
Howdy!
Rosalie:
Hello. Uh, howdy.
Avram:
[stunned by her beauty, he repeats himself]
Howdy. How do? Uh, hello there.
Rosalie:
Do you want something?
Avram:
Uh, well, um, do I want - No! Well. Goldang it, ma'am, my name is Tommy Lillard, and I come from the ...
[...]See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

User Reviews

I read all the commentaries and disagree with most, but particularly those who moan about this being "slow" for the first 45 minutes. Look. This is a classic. The story is great. A misanthropic rabbi comes to a congregation in San Francisco and get waylaid and falls into (mis)adventures with a seedy character. This unlikely duo make their way to SF undergoing a number of adventures. If you do not understand the yiddishekeit of this film, go take a look at the Marx brothers. The scene where battered Wilder sees the Amish and goes screaming in Yiddish only to discover the cross in the bible in one of the farmer's pockets and faints dead away, is worth the price of admission along. The voting scene at the Yeshiva where only the little boy votes for Wilder invoking the older Rabbi turning his eyes to heaven and saying, "It's going to be close!" is likewise great. This is zany Yiddish theater at its best. Wilder, always overacting, is SUPERB as the rabbi. Ford is merely great as the kindhearted outlaw. The bad guys are bad, the characters they meet along the way, Schiavelli and veteran character actor Ian Wolfe are great as the Trappist monks, even Joe Kapp is great as the Mexican RR worker. This is great watching and one of my favorite films. Don't knock it. It's hilarious. Check it out!

44 of 52 people found this review helpful.
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